FTC Files Suit Against Defendant
In a Fraud Case Involving E-Mail

a Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter

Updated May 19, 1999 12:24 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- In a first-of-its-kind case, the Federal Trade Commission has filed a fraud suit against an unknown defendant who used e-mail messages to trick consumers into calling a pay-per-call telephone sex service.

FTC lawyers said the agency filed the suit in federal court in Charlotte, N.C., against a company that it hasn't yet identified. The agency said the company sent thousands of junk e-mail messages -- known as spam -- saying that a purchase of as much as $899 had been placed on the recipient's credit card and...